Brits are learning to spell drought as air-conditioner sales boom, while South Africans know lack of water is a permanent issue.
Picture: iStock
Climate denialist or not, you cannot deny that dramatic things are happening in the world’s weather. Nowhere is that more starkly shown than in images of a drought-stricken UK, where everything in poet William Blake’s “green and pleasant land” is scorched yellow and brown.
In England there are water restrictions and food prices are set to rise as harvests come in under expectations.
It’s a bit like living in Africa and, specifically, in our part of the world, where in the vast majority of places, lack of water is an issue.
We’re used to dealing – most of the time – with the vagaries of nature, whereas the Brits probably only recently learned how to spell the word “drought”.
There’s also a booming trade in household air-conditioners there, both installed and portable.
But before we become complacent with our warm, sunny lives, we should take what is happening in the UK and Europe as a sign that we need to start preparing for what is headed our way.
This year’s El Nino weather phenomenon is the strongest it has yet been, meaning we’re probably going to get very little rain and boiling temperatures this summer.
So, let’s start thinking now about conserving our most precious resource, water.
